Washington is a tenaciously traditional town, and there are few customs more strictly observed here than the rollout of a book by the legendary journalist Bob Woodward. Everyone knows when it will arrive, like when the air smells of coming rain, and everyone knows exactly how it’s going to go. The juiciest morsels will be reported in the week before the book is released—often by Jamie Gangel of CNN or in the Washington Post, Woodward’s journalistic pied a terre. Other outlets, perhaps the New York Times or NPR, will follow up with “exclusive” reporting of Woodward’s exclusive reporting, bragging, ever so subtly, that they were able to “obtain” the book in advance of publication. This will, in turn, drive the conversation on cable news and on social media. And by time the book is actually available for purchase, it is already #1 on the New York Times best-seller list and Amazon.